Westwind

*sneezes* The glitter tends to make me sneeze. Your mileage may vary.

Careful there, you don't know what it'll do to you....

Should be fixed

Lemme see......*stumbles around in the ACP...bumps into columns...gets lost in the dashboard....* I've been using the version 4 forum ACP so much in Equilism, that it took me a moment to re-oreint to version 3. 'Tis done... Yes, he already has it. Seems to me it's just a matter of renaming most things. You'll still want the minister for FA to have private FA and Echo access, so the mask doesn't change, only the name. Same for the rest except the advocate, which I've deleted. Let me know if I didn't understand. Meanwhile, I've renamed things appropriately. (I hope) I also renamed Zog's 'DA for Media Affairs' group to just 'Media Affairs'. New badges in place for Ministers. *wonders if he forgot anything*

*waves* *passes the bottle of spiced crimson rum*

Congratulations

*nods* I haven't seen Man of Steel either, but I figure I need to see it before Batman v Superman. If I can find somewhere to watch it. I'm poor, going to the movies is a rare thing.

Yeah, I've heard it's a 'fast and furious' version of Star Trek, which is a total turn off for me. Meanwhile, my daughter has talked of nothing but Captain America: Civil War for months and months. Every day she tells me how she can't standing waiting any longer. lol She spent all her Christmas money on buying Marvel tshirts. You mean the Batman movie with the TV show actors from the 1960's ? That was fun. Or the Michael Keaton movie Batman, which was better than I expected. Beetlejuice as Bruce Wayne and Batman?

Welcome to TWP, make yourself at home My daughter would contest your attempt to steal all the fries

Other suggested departments..... - Department of Redundancy Department (requires two Ministers) - Department of Insults and Diatribes. (Lead by The Minister of Snark) - Department of Transportation (maintains the expressway used during banjections between TWP and TRR) - Intercultural Culture Department (umm....yeah) - Department of Mystery and Imagination (this one should be obvious) - Department of Redundancy Department (still requires two Ministers) - Director of the NationStates Medical Center of The West Pacific, the best geriatric care in all NS. Best Care Anywhere! - General-in-Charge of the Keeping of the Chocolate - Department of Redundancy Department (requires two Ministers, sometimes even three. Triplicate is good. Our motto, 'You can never have enough redundancy. Never. Ever. The more redundancy the better') More importantly.... - Official Bartender - Official Bouncer

*adds 'on hold' music to calm your nerves while you wait* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgpJVI3tDbY ----hey, it could have been 'elevator music' versions of Barry Manilow songs....

'Tis done !

Users awaiting validation have been approved. Just let admin know, we'll approve them as we go.

As Director of the Old Guy Hair Restoration project, I direct those young 'gentlemen' that still have hair to make an appointment for a scalp exam immediately. Your follicle contributions will be appreciated, and support the future of TWP ! Old Guys may now make appointments to choose your new hairline in preparation for restoration procedures at a date to be announced later. That is all.

*dumps tea in The South Pacific harbor*

At our age, how many hairs are left to split ?

All Hail The VoV !

I've been tied up with the forum upgrade in Equilism.....and telling Winnie my horror stories from that experience. Yup, bad time of year for it.

Here we go.....Finland considers basic income of 800 Euros/month for every adult, replacing all other welfare. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/finland/12035946/Finland-is-considering-giving-every-citizen-800-a-month.html

We need a new souvenir 'stamp' graphic for this year's booth.

'Tis done

'Tis done !

The first problem with my example is the interest rate. With savings accounts currently paying an average of .06%, that's a far cry from 4%. However, there are a few giving about 1% out there, and annuities generally are able to garner a 7% annual return (which allows the financial company providing the annuity the profit margin they need, while offering customers a good rate.) Government managed systems of savings take the most conservative route, which means the least interest available. Such government managed systems don't take on much risk, thus a low return. There is also the problem that the world economy is so screwed up right now, that central banks are considering negative interest to force consumers to spend their money, not save it, in order to stimulate the economy. (If your savings account gets smaller every month instead of bigger, you're going to spend it before it devalues) I noticed the Bank of Ireland forbid "small" withdrawls of less than $700 Euros from tellers at the bank, and the Bank of England is looking at blockchain technology (the tech behind Bitcoin) to use it to take the Pound all digital. An all digital currency makes negative interest rates easy and attractive to central banks. I also saw the creator of Bitcoin is being considered for a Nobel prize in economics. Governments, Business, and Banks don't like Bitcoin, but the all like the underlying technology. Mastercard is looking at it, there is an auto loan company looking at it. The US Federal Reserve Chair just said they need to 'research' new 'tools', which I take as code words for the same things these others are looking at. Can't help it, I've been researching cybercurrencies a lot lately. Even thought about what it would take to start an NScoin. It's a possibility. There are open source blockchains, just change the parameters, name it, and create a 'genesis block' to get it started. Just think of the recruitment telegram, "You'll recieve 100 NScoins for joining our region, which are fully tradable on any cybercurrency exchange. Your posts on our offsite forum will gain you even more NScoins, and our Army pays it's soldiers and officers in NScoins as well. Seriously! You can also turn your NScoins into US dollars or Euros at the exchange, keep it for yourself or purchase telegram stamps to help our region's recruitment efforts...." *imagines a paid NS army rampaging across regions*

What if, when someone is born, $20,000 is put into an interest baring account that they cannot access until the age of majority. Then it can be used to jumpstart their opportunities in the world...such as using it toward education or a home, or tools and training for a trade. $20k for 20 years at 4% interest would be about $44k . A nice sum for a downpayment, or towards tuition. That way there is an incentive to make use of the money, than to become dependent upon a guaranteed income which removes those incentives. And the taxpayers are only covering the first $20k, nothing more, and everyone has the same equal benefit. Set the initial deposit-on-birth amount to adjust according to inflation. Or..... How about $100,000 is put into an account when someone is born? In 20 years it will be about $215k. Then have the interest convert from compounding to paying the interest out as a dividend instead. That would give each person about a $8k/year income cushion as a baseline in addition to their salary from work. Or maybe that arrangement pays for their lifelong health care ? Or..... Change how retirement security is handled....establish an account at birth and let it grow interest until.....whatever age is chosen....65 ? A one time $50k deposit at birth would give you about $700k at retirement to live out your days, without having to save a dime all your life unless you want to. Or....?

The TWP Weekend Awareness Campaigns ? Sounds good